Der Bunglehoff welcomes Lucy Mair (soprano) with Helen Ridout (piano) and Ben Alexander (cello), joined by Lily Hodge (soprano) performing a repertoire of classical, folk and spiritual music and song in keeping with the season. It promises to be an uplifting event!
Lucy Mair: soprano
Lucy Mair studied Music and Italian at Royal Holloway, University of London, attended the Conservatorio di Benedetto Marcello, Venice, and graduated with an MMus in Performance and Composition from Newcastle University. She has been awarded bursaries to both Oxenfoord and Dartington International Summer Schools for masterclasses with Joan Rodgers, Emma Kirkby, Karen Cargill, Susan Bullock and Malcolm Martineau.
As well as many recital, operatic and oratorio solo performances, Lucy gave the UK première of Alain Daniélou’s arrangement of Rabindranath Tagore’s Song Poems and sang for composer John Tavener at the funeral of his librettist and “spiritual mother”, Mother Thekla.
Lucy teaches singing, both at home and at Roedean School. She is training as a counsellor and is currently developing Person-Centred Singing, a non-directive approach, facilitating singers to find their own voices.
Helen Ridout: piano
Helen studied piano, oboe and saxophone at Chethams School of Music and later specialised in collaborative piano at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, winning the Leonard Smith prize for chamber music and the Florence Smith prize for accompaniment.
Her diverse musical career has spanned playing for the major ballet companies, touring with Classical Cabaret (a show devised by violinist Beverley Davison) to playing tenor sax with the Fairer Sax at the Edinburgh Festival. For many years she was pianist for the Olyver Gypsy Orchestra – Eddie Hession (accordion) and Dominic Seldis (double-bass) – with whom she recorded two CDs and performed at venues including St.Martin-in-the-Fields, Snape Maltings and the Barbican.
Recent projects include: Repetiteur for Push – a community opera by Howard Moody commissioned by the Battle Festival, pianist for Barefoot Opera ‘Cabaret Fusion’ and ‘Barefoot Ballads’, pianist for ‘Mozart in Russia’ at the Kino-Teatr, director and pianist for ‘Peter and the Wolf, Winter Wonderland concerts’ also at the Kino-Teatr and MD for ‘Paris Snow’ a new musical premiered in March 2017.
She is currently based in East Sussex and future plans include staging three ‘opera buffa‘ commissioned by Menotti in 1958 for the Spoletto Festival.
Ben Alexander: cello
Ben is currently in his third year at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance studying for a performance degree with Joely Koos.
Recent engagements include performances in the Brighton Fringe Festival in 2021 and 2022 and a tour with the Different Theatre company around London and the South of England performing the new award winning musical Clean! by Simon Scardinelli.
He has recently performed both solo and chamber music in various local venues including Hammerwood Park as part of the Sussex Classical concert series. Earlier this year, he performed at the Romanian Cultural Institute as part of a live broadcast for Radio Punct to raise funds for the Romanian Red Cross to aid in the Ukraine conflict.
He has worked as a freelance musician around London during his studies and has done recording and studio work for various artists and performed jazz, chamber and orchestral music at venues including Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, the Holywell Music Room, St John’s Smith Square, Glyndebourne and the Royal Albert Hall Verdi Cafe.
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Ok, so here’s the deal..
All the money goes to the professional artists and performers and you get a free drink on entry and food (world class, entirely home made pizza) served during the evening.
In an era where a £22 night out can get you a couple of fizzy, continental beers and some posh cheesy crisps in your average English taverna, a couple of tickets at this price constitutes both value and peace of mind.
